ABC Election Coverage: 2005 West Australian Election

Bassendean

East Metropolitan Region

Very Safe Labor 18.7%

New Margin: ALP 13.7%

MP

This seat will be contested by Roleystone MP Martin Whitely, moving north of the Swan after the abolition of his existing electorate. He will be attempting to succeed the retiring Labor MP Clive Brown, who has held this seat since 1996, having previously represented much of the area under its former name Morley 1993-96. Brown is Minister for State Development and a former union official, having served as President and also Secretary of the WA Trades and Labour Council.

Profile

Covers suburbs and some rural districts in an area bounded by the Swan River, the Tonkin Highway and Beechboro Road. It covers 84 square kilometres and includes the suburbs of Ashfield, Bassendean, Eden Hill, Kiara, part of Morley, Lockridge, Beechboro, Caversham and West Swan.

Redistribution

Loses parts of Embleton and Bayswater west of the Tonkin Freeway to Maylands, gaining parts of Beechboro and the lower Swan Valley from Swan Hills and Midland. The Labor margin falls slightly from 19.1% to 18.7% as the area of the electorate triples from 27 to 84 square kilometres.

History/Trivia

Bassendean was created as a new seat for the 1996 election, roughly replacing the abolished electorate of Morley. It recorded a 7.1% swing to Labor in 2001.

2-Party Booth Result

Labor majorities recorded in 10 of the 11 booths used in 2001. The worst Labor result was 42.4% at the semi-rural West Swan Hall booth in Henley Brook, a part of the electorate added from Swan Hills in the redistribution. Labor's vote was above 60% in the other 10 booths, above 70% in three, reaching 79.8% at Lockridge Primary School.